kneeland



2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. 0. KNEELAN'D FOLDING MACHINE.

No. 326,125. Patented Sept. 15, 1885. i

; INVENTOR QWITNE8SES:

ATTORNEY N. PETERS. PboloUkbognpMr. Wilhmgt ing sodisposed on shaft B, as shown in Fig.

UNIT-En S ATES PATENT ()FFICE. "f

JOSEPH o. KNEELAND, or NORTHAMPTON,

M. SPAULDING,.GUARDTAN, OFSAMEPLAGE.

FOLDIINIG-MACHINE.

srncrieicntrron forming part of Letters Patent: No. 326,125, dated September l5. 1 885.

Application filed April 27,1885. (Nb model.)

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

, Be'it known that I, J OSEPH O. KNEELANID,

a citizen of the United States, residingat.

Northampton, in the county of Hampshire fication.

This invention relates to improvements in paper-folding machines, the object being to provide improved mechanism in said 113:- chines for folding one or more sheets of paper at a time, and for preventing any wrinkling of the, paper at the fold.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a paperyfolding machine constructed according to my invention. tion of the upper part of the machine. Fig. 3 is a detail view, in perspective,of the fold; completing devices. Fig. 4 is a modified constructi'on of a part of the devices illustrated in Fig. 3.

J-In thedrawings. A indicates the frame f. the machine, and Fis the bed thereof. Two; shafts, B and n, are hung in suitable bearings;

on the machine. The former is the drivingshaft, to which. motion is given by a belt ap-. plied on the pulley D. The said shafts have. each a sprocket-wheel, s, thereon, and a driven chain, o, applied on said sprocket-wheels connec'ts said shafts so that they rotate together.

Fixed on shaft B are two roller-heads, d, in

which two fo1dpressing rollers, c e. have suitable bearings, whereby they are permitted to rotate freely therein, said rollers being so,

hung inthe heads (1 that their axial lines are diagonal to that of shaft B, but their end bear:

ings are equidistant from the axis of saidshaft,

the heads d, in which ,t-he rolls are hung, be-.

3, as to cause the surfa ,ce;of said rolls, one after the other, to be presented against the fold of the paper in a line diagonal to said fold, thereby rolling from one end, to theother of the folded edge, as hereinafter-more fullyse't Fig. 2 is a longitudinal secwith the crank-disks n a, one on each end of shaftn, throughtheconnecting rods h h..

.The table of the machine consists of two secs tion s,.H H, which arepivoted at w as, near each end of the bed F, on suitable standards, so that their free ends swing upward and out-,

.wardly, in order to uncover those. part-s'of the machine beneath them and permit of easy ac- MASSAOHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO cess thereto forcleaning and repairs, and when said'table'seotions rest in their working position, as shown in Fig. 1, they are so supported by the standards 6, or in any other suitable manner. One of said table-sections is pro- 5 vided with the usual gages, ff, wherebythe v position of the sheet or sheets of paper under the blade m is properly determined. A file of paper, K, to be folded is placed on the op-.

posite table-section. The said two sections, of the table do notlmeet under the blade 1%,. but

'a space is left between their ends, in which.

said blademoves, as below described. A rock-shaft,ja, is hung in suitable bearings on the end ofone of the saidtable-secend of shalt a, on the free end of w hich is a weight, 0.

armagainst which the edge ofthe cam E acts, whereby as the latter rotates said shaft ajs givena rocking motion.--

"tions H, and a bent lever, o, is fixedtoone An ordinary roller and stud are attached to the side of lever o, as shownin, Fig. 1, and constitute a bearing'point on said Afiexible apron-piece,t', of rubber, or havin g the frictional surface characteristics ofthe latter andpossessing some such semi-rigidity as thick leather or thickrubber packingjis secured to theside of the shaft a and hangs down toward the rollers c, and-a like apron;

piece, 6, is see ired to, the end of thetable-section opposite shafta, and hangs downoppo;

site thaton the latter.

An opening or slot. 10. is madethronghthea bed F directlyunder said apron-pieces, and an. 5

inclined ch G Placed under o ening 10. to.

tending from one, sideof said the endofthemachine.

Ayielding and selfradjusting autnat,-w,.i 1;

against which the rollersc c; act, is attachedsto;

thenppenends of two arms, b I), the latter being pivoted to the frame .A at'5, and their curved lower ends termi'natingopposite a rubber or other similar yielding cushion, c, fixed on the frame. A spring, d, bears against each of the arms b, tending to swing the abutment 10 toward the rolls a, and to hold said abutment with sufficient force against the pressure of said rolls to cause the fold in the paper to be properly compressed. The cushions c prevent any noise or shock which might be caused by the swinging movement of the ends of arms 12 against the-frame A when a" thick mass of folded sheets passes from between the rollers c and the abutment. The, face of the latter and the axis of shaft B are parallel. By the use of said yielding abutment with the fold-pressing rolls 0 eithera single sheet or many sheets of paper are folded at once with equal facility and without any adjustment of the machine to provide for its proper action upon the different thickness of the folded edge in the two cases.

The operation of themachine is as follows: The paper to be foldedusually six sheetsat a timeis taken from the pile K- and placed under the folding-blade m, the proper position thereof being'determined'bythe gagesf. The blade m'descends, forcing the paper intothe slot between the table-sections H, and with said movement of theblade'cam E acts to-let the arm. 0 swing down, rocking shaft a and swinging the lower part of apron 6 against apron i, the latter being backed up by the'face of the abutment w, so that it has butlittle,if any, movement when apron z swings against it. Blade m carries the folded paper between said aprons, and by the latter the-sheets are pressed against the sides of bladem, and their frictional surfaces tend to draw the paper upward on each side of the bladeand {help-Ito force the edge of the latter into the fold,'thereby preventing any locseness of the sheets at that point, and the blade,-having carried-said folded edge below the edges of saidaprons at a point "where it will be acted uponby-the rollers c c, retires,-leaving the paper between said aprons until said rollei shave so acted,

when apron i swings awayfrom a pron if, dropping the paper through the opening 10 in the bedontot-he chute b, w'henceit is-deliv-ered to any convenient receptacle.

Asheretofore stated, the rolls c-c act in succession upon the folded edge'of said paper to compress and solidify it, theabntment w,;supported by springs d, holding the paper yieldingly to a sufficient degree against the-rolls. Said rolls do not, as in folding-machinesheretofore made, strike at once the entirelsid-e of the fold, whereby danger of wrinkling-the paper is incurred, but, as aboveset forth,-their axes are inclined to that of shaft;B,=and consequently to the edgeline of thefolded edgeof the paper, since that'isgiven a positio ib the lower edge of the blade -m,-which is'par- 'allel with said shaft, andtherefore said -rolls strike first the end of the folded edge an d roll from thence to the other-end, and then th a.

per is-dropped, as abovestated,said-rolls actingiin succession on the fold. Fig. 4 shows a slight modification of the roller "construction above described, wherein, in place of the-rollers c, the heads have the rubbing-bars z 2 attached thereto, which areadapted to strike the folded edge of the paper in the same manner as the saidrolls, but to act by abrasion instead of rolling; but the latter produces 'much-the bestresults.

apronsecured to said shaft, a similarsecond apronsecured at the edge of said slotbpposite the first-named one,'and mechanism, substantially as described, for operating said rock-shaft, combined and tially as set forth.

operating substan- 2. In a paper-folding-machine,- therecipro- :cating folding-blade and suitable .meehanism for operating the same, the slotted table thereunder, a rock-shafthung atone-sideof said table-slot, a pending-semi-rigid friction-faced apron secured to said-shaft,a similar-second gapron secured at the edge ofsaid slot oppositethe first-named one, mechanism, substantially as described,'for operating'said rockshaft, and an abutment located at-the side of said second apron, having-a face 'in a plane therewith, combined and operating substantially asset forth.

3. Ina machine for-folding paperythe-combination, with one or more fold-compressing rolls supported in bearings on a rotating shaft in a line diagonal to-theaxis of-the lat .ter, but whose ends are equidistantfrom said shaft, of a yielding abutment against which said roll or rolls act, theface of which is parallel with said shaft, substantiallyias-set-forth.

4. In a paper-folding machine, the combination, with one-or more-fold-compressing rolls supported in bearingson a rotating shaft in 'a line diagonal tothe axis of the latter, but whose ends are equidistant from-said shaft, a yielding abutment against which said roll or'rolls act,-the face of-which is parallel with saidshaft, the apronsi t", the former -at'- tached to the -rock-shaft a, the slotted t-able, and-the reciprocating 'folding-bladem'substantially as set'forth.

5. The pivoted table-sections H H, the rock-shaft a, arm 0, cam e, aprons-i and'i, the-bladem and mechanismfor operating the latter, the abutment w, the shaft B,.and'ro'lls cc, hung in bearings upon-and 'havinga motion aroun'd said shaft, combinedsand operating-substantially as set forth.

"JOSEPH (LKNEELAND. Witnesses: -WM. H. CHAPIN, J. D.GARFIELD. 

